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The New World
I wished it were even longer
2005
Review: January 29, 2005
Director: Terrence Malick
Starring: Colin Farrell, Q'Orianka Kilcher, Christian Bale, Christopher Plummer
You definitely could, but you'd have a very different experience.
THE SETUP:
The John Smith / Pocahontas story gets the Terrence Malick treatment.
DISCUSSION:
I was super-geeked for this movie since I saw the first preview like a year ago. I have worshipped Terrence Malick since I saw Days of Heaven and LOVED it [though my retrospective viewing of Badlands was less impressive], and thought his whole dreaminess and nature focus would be perfect for a movie about the virgin, unspoiled wilderness of the Unites States—and it was.
The version I saw was the shortened theatrical version, 135 minutes instead of the initially-released 155. The first line of dialogue is an incantation to the muse, and the first music is the very beginning of the Ring cycle, which begins at the bottom of the Rhine. This movie also begins at the bottom of a river—I don’t know what it all adds up to, but it’s interesting. So soon the British arrive, with Colin Farrell at John Smith, they meet the Indians, and Smith is sent upstream to negotiate with the Indian king, who happens to be Pocahontas’ dad. Once there, she intervenes to save his life [but this happened at the END of the Disney version! Honestly, I don’t know what to believe], and soon the two of them are frolicking and flirting and falling in love.
Now, the trailers for this movie, and just one’s preconceived notions about the entire topic, lead one to believe that what this movie is going to be about is that the Europeans come and ruin the land, but it’s really not; it’s mostly about Pocahontas’ story… though of course it’s REALLY about virginity and innocence and experience and trust and corruption and nature and all that. I was surprised how romantic it was—this is my idea of a date movie [of course, so is Brain Damage]. The scenes between the quite-hot-with-a-beard Farrell and the astonishingly charming Kilcher are really enchanting, and you want them to end up together, and for her to teach him to sing with all the voices of a rainbow, and to paint with all the colors of the wind.
On that note, I was intrigued by the filmmaker’s decision to drop Pocahontas’ adorable sidekick raccoon and mystic talking tree from this version. But every film takes liberties with history, I guess.
If you’ve seen a Malick film before, you know it’s all going to be very dreamy, languid and slow, with snatches of elliptical narration and little impressions rather than full scenes, which puts the viewer into a sort of trance-like state, and also successfully renders the plot as one of the less important elements. I found this to be the most fast-paced of all of his films [and was surprised at the relatively quick rhythm of the edits], though people at a friend’s screening of this were all like “That was boring as SHIT!” and “I drove all the way into Manhattan for THAT?” People at my screening would snicker like imbeciles every time a native American came on in a loincloth, and laughed uproariously when Pocahontas says “I like grass.”
I loved every second of it, and both my companion and I—and a friend who had seen the 155-minute version—all walked out of it saying “I wouldn’t have minded if that were even longer.” It just wraps you up in its wonderful spell, and there’s something about making the plot unimportant that helps you experience the scenes with more of a you-are-there feeling. I also really loved the last few shots, with the music building up, then a sudden return to nature, with the sound of the wind and the creaking of the trees. This is just a slam-dunk all around. God, I can’t believe I just used a sports metaphor.
SHOULD YOU WATCH IT?
Yes. If you are new to Malick’s work, this would probably be the best one to start with, as well.
